Real
by StrangersTalk
Summary: After twenty-eight years, Anthony is reunited with a figment of his imagination.


REAL

**After twenty-eight years, Anthony is reunited with a figment of his imagination.**

AN: Gregson is the same age as Anthony... mmmkkaayy? Despite the majority of this first chapter, it'll still be the traditional age gap andith fic.

* * *

**Part 1**

It was Anthony's eighth birthday when he wished for a friend.

Anthony was a small, short and rather chubby sort of boy but no one bothered to see past this. His mother had tried to work it out with his teachers, but his father would yell at her and insist that she didn't treat him like a baby. He told Anthony to stand his ground, that when he was hit, he hit back harder. Anthony did try, but there was only so much he could do since there was only one of him.

Blowing out all eight candles Anthony wished with all his might and thought, _I too would be the most loyal friend and I wouldn't let anyone hurt them, ever. _

The very next day, Anthony was giving a presentation in class.

"I- I chose to do my report on…" he sniffed, "butterflies."

He looked up when he heard one of the boys snort, and found almost all of the class snickering behind their hands silently. The teacher ignored them but Anthony had wished Reverend Clarkson had said something.

Straightening his crumpled paper he continued to read. "Did… did you know… butterflies drink from mud?"

The laughter became louder but he did not know what was so funny.

"That's right," he said monotonously, "a butterfly cannot live on its own- I mean on sugar alone. It needs minerals too. This is called puddling. Males do puddling… for… for their… sp-spe-sperm."

The class erupted into laughter and Reverend Clarkson lowered his face so he couldn't tell if he was laughing too.

Anthony spent lunch face down in a puddle of mud. When he arose, Anthony could barely breathe. They pointed and laughed at him and called him names and Michael Gregson, the meanest boy in school had kicked him straight in the stomach, sending him rolling around in the dirt.

"Faggot," Gregson said, spitting on Anthony.

Anthony remembered his father's words, "whatever happens, don't cry. Don't give them that satisfaction."

Anthony didn't even know what the word 'satisfaction' meant, so he cried anyway because his belly hurt.

He didn't realize the fuzzy caterpillar slowly wiggling on the floor next to him. It had a beautiful blue fuzzy coat with white spots, and the more it wiggled the more Anthony smiled at its pink belly. He wiped the tears and mud from his face. He then saw a pair of shoes approaching him. His vision was still blurry and thought it was one of the teachers on duty who would force him to return to that horrible classroom. But as they came closer, he noticed the shoes were small and, they could have been the same size. Anthony winced, trying to stand up, but he felt a hand on his arm helping him up.

He was surprised to see that it was a girl. She was pale and only a little taller than him with short blonde hair and big brown eyes. He felt his cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. She was wearing the same uniform, but he'd never seen her before. She must have been a year older than him, because she wasn't from his class.

"You're not allowed to be here," he said to her once she led them to the boy's toilets. She ignored him, handing Anthony a paper towel.

"What's your name?"

"Edith," she smiled. A girl never smiled at him like that and Anthony realized he was staring so he quickly snatched the paper towel from Edith and began wiping his face.

When he finished he saw her holding out her hand to him.

The boy with the blonde hair and the blue eyes took it. "Anthony Strallan. Is it just Edith?"

Edith smiled. "Yep, just Edith."

…

Anthony didn't see Edith for a while after that and he waited and waited for her in the playground where they first met.

"What are you doing hanging around here?" It was Michael Gregson and his gang. "Looking for another beating?"

Anthony was scared out of his wits on the inside but kept a straight face, tightening his fists beside him, ready to fight back even though he knew he was going to lose. But something else caught his eye. He swore it was Edith, standing there by the school building, just standing there watching him.

Michael Gregson took a swing and for the first time Anthony dodged it and kicked him straight in the crotch. Realizing what he did, Anthony made a run for it, Edith waved her hands to him motioning him to run towards her so he did. He looked back and saw that two of Gregson's cronies were chasing him and the rest were huddled around their injured leader.

"Edith! Where have you been?!"

"Quickly come with me!"

Hand in hand, Edith and Anthony ran past the school and past the small woods where the school church was.

"Edith! We're not allowed to be here!" he whispered frantically as she dragged him into one of the aisles.

"Of course we are, it's a church!"

It was an empty church, a simple church, with grey stonewalls and long wooden seats and a statue of Jesus on the cross at the elevated altar. She finally let go of his hand, and he stole a glance at the pretty girl beside him. He never had a girlfriend before –_Stop it!_ He quickly told himself._ She doesn't even like you!_

"Did you see me?" Anthony asked Edith after a while, "I kicked Michael Gregson in the nuts! I actually kicked him in the nuts!"

"I did," Edith laughed quietly. The two children talked and covered their mouths when they laughed.

Behind them, sister Hughes sat, frowning at the lonely boy in the church. She watched him curiously for the longest time until the school bell rang.

"Anthony," she said quietly, approaching him. Anthony turned from Edith, his face shocked in case he was going to get in trouble. "I think it's time for you to return to class."

"I'm sorry Sister Hughes! I know we're not meant to come here but-I'm sorry it won't happen again!"

The young nun shushed him.

"This is the House of God, you're welcome here anytime Anthony."

Anthony wondered, but not for very long, why Sister Hughes just ignored Edith. After that his friend disappeared again, he would only see her some days and sometimes she would be absent for a whole week. Apparently she didn't like going to school very much, but Anthony was suspicious that there might have been more to it.

The bullying died down too, for some strange reason he would be spared; the school bell, a teacher, even a stray dog once who barred its teeth at his enemies and simply left him alone when Anthony was safe. And Edith would always appear by his side afterwards to pick him up and help him straighten his tie.

"Wait here," Edith told Anthony as she ran into the woods. Anthony stayed put, watching over the caterpillar squirming on the concrete before his feet.

Edith returned holding a stick. She picked up the caterpillar with it.

"Here," she handed it to him. "Let's find somewhere safe to put it."

In the woods, Anthony and Edith set the caterpillar on a low branch and watched it worm about.

The woods was their place and whenever Edith was around, they would eat their lunch there and play tag, sometimes they would talk about their lives. Edith had a mother and father, two sisters, Sybil and Mary and pet Labrador called Isis. She got along well enough with Sybil, who was two years younger, but not at all with Mary, who was older by two. Anthony found it strange that all three went to different schools.

"Do they not like school as well?" Anthony teased. Edith smiled drawing figures in the dirt with a stick.

"Sybil loves school, Mary likes school because of the boys."

"What about you? Why don't you like it? I don't like school, but I'm always forced to go… you don't look like the sort who gets bullied."

Edith shrugged, and when she said nothing, he asked her more seriously.

"Edith, are you being bullied?"

Edith looked at him and saw the hopeless trepidation in his face and stifled her laughter.

"I'll kill them, I swear I will… Tell me who it is! I won't let them hurt you again!"

"No?"

"Absolutely not!"

Edith held his hand to calm him down.

"It's alright Anthony, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. When they want to hurt you, I want you to pretend that they're hurting me. Can you do that? Can you protect me?"

The little boy lifted her hands to his chest.

"I will protect you forever," he told her. She smiled at him with glassy eyes and all of sudden she was coming closer and he didn't hear her say goodbye as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

Anthony didn't really know what love was; his mother never did anything like that to his father, but he supposed she must have a long time ago. Anthony wondered how anyone could ever stop doing that when it felt so wonderful.

He decided to tell Edith he loved her and wrote her a card because he was bad at speeches.

"What's this?" A voice said behind him in the school hallway. Lunch had just begun and students were getting things out of their lockers. Anthony turned around, horrified that the card was in Michael Gregson's hands, wondering how it slipped from between his books.

"Dear Edith," he drawled loudly, silencing the rest of the children.

Anthony lunged forward, only to be held back by the rest of Gregson's gang.

"Give it back!"

"I think you are the most beautiful girl in the school, maybe the world, even" he cackled loudly, "oh god I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Thank you for being my friend. But maybe one day we could be more than friends because I think I'm in love with you," Gregson laughed even louder and everyone else was laughing with him. Anthony felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Always and forever yours – you spelt forever wrong - Anthony Strallan."

"Give it back!" Anthony cried.

"Edith, is there an Edith here?" Gregson yelled. Nobody responded. The children muttered to themselves.

"Who?"

"Whose that?"

"Never heard of her."

"Shit Strallan!" his arch nemesis exclaimed. "Gee, I thought you were a faggot, hell, you're just a loony!"

"Edith!" Anthony cried, calling out to his friend. "Edith! Where are you?!"

"Yeah! Where are you Edith?" Gregson called across the hallway and soon they were chanting her name.

_When they want to hurt you, I want you to pretend that they're hurting me._

In a spur of rage, Anthony head butted one his captors and kicked the other one down sending them to the floor, one clinging onto his bleeding nose and the other in a fetal position clutching his stomach. He ran towards Gregson who for a moment looked genuinely frightened. With one swing of Anthony's fist, he was on the ground too, but Anthony jumped onto of the bully and began beating him up bloody, screaming as he did until he was pulled off with big hands and dragged away.

It was at the Principal's office that Anthony had learned that the school had no record for an 'Edith'. When he heard it, he couldn't quite believe it and was adamant that the school's record was wrong.

"She's a student here, a year above me! She has blonde short hair that goes up to here and brown eyes. She has a mother and a father and two sisters and a pet dog called Isis! Why won't anyone believe me?"

Usually Father Carson's face was fashioned into angry big bushy eyebrows, a serious glare and a stern, unimpressed frown, but he only stared at his student solemnly.

"Whether I believe you or not, you still assaulted another student."

"What's assaulted mean?!"

Anthony had cried for weeks denying that Edith was only a figment of his imagination. She had kissed him! He felt her lips on his cheek! But months passed, and months turned to years, Gregson and his gang never challenged him again and he should have been happy about it, but he would have preferred being with Edith in a world of bullies instead of one without her at all.

**Part 2**

It was his twelfth birthday when Anthony was once again sitting in his kitchen with his family. His mother was a stout, plump woman with blonde hair and a round face. Anthony's father was tall and overbearing, with ginger hair and thick moustache. Anthony had his blue eyes. His sister resembled her father, but with a stature that was like her mother and he rarely saw her because she went to boarding school. As for his grandpa, he was barely holding onto life, suffered dementia and didn't even know who Anthony was.

Anthony felt the heat of the candles on his face.

"Hurry up and make a wish boy," his father said. His mother shushed him.

Anthony closed his eyes. _Wishes don't really come true._ The last wish he made, proved he was mentally ill. But as if his mind had a mind of itself, Anthony thought, _I miss you Edith. I wish you were here._

That night, Anthony stayed awake, waiting for Edith. It was stupid but he did it anyway. It was three am when he began falling asleep, but a clink on his window sent him sitting up instantly.

"Edith?!"

Another clink on his glass sounded, like someone was throwing small rocks at it. He rushed to his window, slid it open and stuck his head outside. His heart sank when he found that nobody was there. Not wanting to believe it so, he tiptoed downstairs and ran out of the house and onto the front yard with his bare feet.

"Edith!" he hissed. "You there?"

"Boo!" said a voice beside him making him jump.

"Jesus you scared me!"

"Not Jesus, Edith," she joked.

"I can't believe it worked."

"What did?"

"My wish, my wish! It came true and you're here!"

"Of course I'm here, silly."

He noticed that she was a lot shorter than him now and she still looked like the same person when he last saw her except she wasn't in the uniform, but a white cotton dress and knee high boots.

"Edith… how old _are _you?"

"Ten."

"Ten?! You're still ten?"

"But I bet I could beat you in a Math's quiz," she ran off, Anthony following after her, their laughter echoing down the streets.

**Part 3**

Sister O'Brien was an unsympathetic woman with a sharp tongue. Her lectures usually sent people straight to sleep, but if you so much as closed your eyes for three seconds, the cracks of a wooden ruler hitting the table wouldn't be unexpected. A sixteen year old Anthony was sitting somewhere in the middle of the class, trying to concentrate. Next to him, fourteen year old Edith sat on top of the low bookshelves against the window. Sometimes she would be listening in on the class, other times she would be drawing, reading or writing or simply lying along it on her belly, looking bored. Today she Edith was bored. She stood up and started following O'Brien around, imitating the way she had her hands clasped behind her back and stuck her nose up at everyone. She looked over at Anthony whose eyes were wide, trying not to panic. O'Brien stopped in the middle of the class room, addressing everyone but Anthony was too busy watching Edith move behind her, waving her arms so that O'Brien appeared to be dancing. Anthony stifled a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" she bit out, quick to catch him.

"Nothing miss."

"Right, detention," she said simply.

Anthony glared at Edith as she smiled at him apologetically.

…

"I'm sorry," Edith said, holding out a single daisy flower as she waited next to his bicycle when Anthony finally came out. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Anthony silently took it and Edith was scared that she was mad at him, but he only smiled at her and touched her hair, slipping the flower above her ear. Only two years older, Anthony was towering over Edith now, a whole head taller than her. He was lean and the baby fat in his cheeks barely visible. But he still had the same dark blonde messy hair and blue eyes. As for Edith she was a lanky little thing, but Anthony thought she was beautiful.

"Come on Edie, hop on," he said climbing on his bike, Edith propped herself up on the handles, leaned against Anthony and they rode home late into the afternoon, Edith squealing at him to pedal faster.

**Part 4**

And so it was, Edith and Anthony were inseparable, so much so that it caused some concern for his mother.

"I think we need to take him to a doctor, Will" his mother said, looking out the window at her son who was flailing about and laughing around the lake by himself.

"That's what I've been saying for years!" his father grumbled from the TV room.

…

"Stop! Stop!" Edith cried happily, as Anthony splashed her with water.

"Watch out! Crocodile coming!" he snapped his arms together and began chasing Edith as she squealed and waded away as best as she could. Anthony growled when he reached her, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in the water with him. When he resurfaced, to his astonishment, Edith had disappeared.

"Edith?" he said fearing he had just drowned her. "Edith!"

When he couldn't find her in the water he rushed back inside his house, calling out her name, without a care of what his parents would think.

He found her in his bathroom, draping wet and messing his bathroom floor, wringing her hair in the sink. Still panting, Anthony sighed with relief.

"Don't do that," he told her.

"Don't do what?" his mother at the door asked him.

…

"I'm not going!" he said, sitting on the couch of the TV room across his parents.

"I'm eighteen in a week and I'll officially be in adult, you can't make me."

"Honey you're sick!"

"Listen to your mother, boy," his father grunted.

"I know she's…" he did not want so say she wasn't real, because he was to her. "I know that it's all in my mind. _I know._ I'll deal with it!"

"Don't you want to get better, son?" she asked him and Anthony could tell her heart was breaking.

"I'm sorry mother," he said sadly. "Not if it means losing her."

"But she's not real!"

"Bertha, leave him be, it's useless."

Anthony rushed to his room and tried not to slam the door, threw himself on the bed and put a pillow over his head, blocking out his mother and father who were now fighting downstairs. Edith peered from the bathroom her clothes still wet. She slowly approached Anthony and lied next to him. Anthony scooted over, holding his arm out to her so she could snuggle close. Edith slipped her head under his pillow. He thought about all the times he wasted his birthday wishes, wishing that Edith be made into a real person, but to his confusion it never worked. But how could Edith not be real, when he could feel the warmth that emanated from her human body, and smell the salt water in her hair and feel her breath skating along his bare chest? She was real, but only he could see her.

"Maybe you _should_ get help," she whispered despondently.

"I made a promise that I'd stay loyal and protect you didn't I?" he replied, and hugged her tighter.

**Part 5**

Their love for each other was not passionate but more than romantic in a sense that Anthony and Edith, when together, the world was so much better.

Anthony was busy writing his paper for college when Edith knocked on the door of his apartment. He smiled at the sight of her as she leaped into his arms. Edith at eighteen had grown into beautiful young lady with a womanly physique with full breasts and wide hips and a small waist and her face was longer, and slimmer. As for Anthony, at twenty, he was a handsome tall and lean man towering over six feet. He had broad shoulders and the fat from his cheeks had gone away making his lovely square jaw more visible.

"Hello," he said, kissing her on the cheek as she landed on his lap.

"Hello," she replied.

"I was just thinking about you."

"So I heard."

Edith kissed Anthony on the cheek too and suddenly Anthony was curious. He pressed his lips against her and after a moment she let him through, opening his mouth for him. It was wet and sweet and so utterly real and everything he thought it would be. Anthony groaned against her, picking them both up from the chair, and lead her to his bed. He kept opening his eyes slightly and continued to roam his hands everywhere on her body, squeezing it, caressing it and studying every angle and shape, just to make sure she was still there. Edith pushed him off gently and he pulled away.

"I love you Anthony," she said.

"And I love you Edith. I love you so much," he crushed their lips together, simultaneously removing their clothes. They had never seen each other naked before but they were hardly embarrassed because they'd known each other for so long and practically spent every waking hour together.

Edith arched her back towards him, moaning as Anthony pushed into her. It was warm inside her, warm and human and there was no mistaking the pressure around his length. Edith cried out his name as he drove inside. Anthony panted above her. He kissed her and licked her, tasting her sweat. The arms wrapped around him pulled him closer and she lifted herself towards him as if they couldn't get close enough. When Anthony's breath started coming short, he knew he was near. With a loud cry he spilled into Edith and fell on top of her.

"Oh Edith," he breathed. When nobody replied, he instantly sat up on his knees to discover that there was nothing but messy, soiled sheets beneath him. Anthony's face contorted, and he ran into his bathroom to spew. When he was done, he fell to the tiled floor, resting against the wall, a sob escaping his lips. _You're completely insane. _He clawed and beat his head, angry at himself, clasping at his hair, wanting to yank it from its roots. He cried in anguish, never feeling a loss quite like this before. Because how could you lose something that wasn't even there in the first place? He said her name over and over again, wanting to summon her but Edith never appeared so he simply curled, naked as he was, and cried himself to sleep on the bathroom floor.

Everything changed for Edith and Anthony. Anthony was polite, but avoided being physically intimate with Edith, even simply holding her hand. Maybe he was tired of believing, tired of hurting. Edith didn't look like she minded the lack of physical touch, she was always so happy just to see him.

**Part 6**

Anthony was twenty-one when he met Maude. She had long silky brown hair, beautiful porcelain skin, speckled with light freckles. She had dark almond eyes, a small nose and small lips. And at the eve of New Year, during a college party that the Crawley brothers held, he had mustered up the courage to approach her.

"Would you care for a dance?"

"It would be my pleasure," she said, taking his hand.

The two danced side by side, making small talk and Anthony would laugh politely.

"Anthony?"

Anthony nearly lost his balance, when Edith joined them.

"Anthony, who's this?" Edith asked him.

"Are you alright?" Maude asked Anthony as he struggled to address either of them. He turned to Maude instead.

"Yes, fine, I thought I saw someone."

Edith frowned.

"Anthony, why are you being like this?"

Anthony sighed, irritated, he shut his eyes, willing his mind to stop.

"Go away," he told Edith but he didn't mean to say it loudly.

"Excuse me?" said Maude.

"No, not you! Sorry-"

"I'm confused-"

"Anthony! Why won't you look at me?" Edith hassled.

"Are you ill?" Maude asked her partner. "Do you want to go? We could get something to eat?"

Anthony nodded, "yes, that would be good," and as he passed Edith, avoiding her eyes, he muttered to her not to follow him, leaving Edith in the middle of the dance floor, utterly distraught.

When Anthony had returned to his apartment later that night, dropping his keys by his table and turning the lamp on, he had expected Edith to be there. He prepared himself for would have a lot of explaining to do and let out a sigh of relief when she wasn't there. But when Anthony went to bed, his sleep was stolen by his thoughts. He didn't feel good about what he did to Edith, but wasn't certain whether or not he actually regretted it.

Edith didn't return, but Maude did.

**Part 7**

He found that he liked Maude's company. She was more reserved and less crazy than Edith but maybe he needed that. His family certainly liked her when he drove them down to meet them.

"I like this girl Anthony," his mother told him as he helped dry up the dishes. "She's quiet and polite and intelligent and she is rather pretty."

He smiled at her mother before she tentatively added, "And what about… you're other… friend, what's happened to her?"

Anthony swallowed. "Edith? Edith's, well, I suppose she's found something better to do… terribly dull following me around," he added with a smirk, but inside Anthony felt sad remembering the years with Edith. He felt his mother squeeze his shoulder affectionatley.

"I'm proud of you dear. For doing it all on your own."

When his mother left, Anthony couldn't help but feel his chest constrict at the very thought of Edith. Because he didn't do it alone, he certainly didn't beat those bullies by himself. As he thought hard about it, he remembered all those times she watched over him when he was being taunted by Gregson and his gang. How when everyone else turned away, she was there to comfort him and cheer him up and wipe the dirt from his knees. All these years, Edith never left his side; she saved him from his loneliness.

"What's the matter Anthony?" Maude said, Anthony sniffled, laughing at himself as he wrapped his arms around Maude. Maude took his face in her hands and asked him again.

"Marry me," he said instead. Maude was taken aback.

"What?"

"Marry me," he repeated.

"But Anthony- we've only known each other for a year!"

"So? Don't you think we could be great together?"

"I do," Maude nodded, and nodded again. "Okay, yes."

…

His mother had insisted they stay the night, as it was too late to drive back. Anthony was hesitant at first, because it reminded him so much of his life with Edith but was thankful that at least his old room was changed into a guest room, and you could barely tell that it had been his.

Anthony was awoken by a sound of a woman softly crying, and it wasn't Maude, as he turned to his side. Could it have been Edith? Where was she now? _In your head. _Anthony was wide-awake now, and decided to get his robe and creep downstairs. He hadn't seen her since he left her at the dance floor for Maude, and frankly he was nervous.

He searched everywhere and was about to give up when he noticed a figure by the lake. He was struck at first, but when he started moving towards her he couldn't stop. Edith turned around then, crying and Anthony felt a sense of that old protectiveness over her and he quickened his pace. Edith ran towards him, leaping into his arms, sobbing frantically into his robe.

He held her tightly. Gods he missed her!

"You said you would be loyal, you said you wouldn't let anyone hurt me, remember?"

"I know," Anthony's voice shook.

"Then why are you doing this? You know I'll disappear if you do, you won't need me anymore."

Anthony swallowed hard for the hardest words he was going to say.

"Because… you're not real Edith."

She pulled away and looked at him, stricken.

"But I am," she cried. "You said so yourself. I am to you."

"You're just in my head, you're not real, I'm sorry. It's all my fault!"

"No, no, no!" Edith sobbed, punching his chest and Anthony let her, feeling every hit and every pain.

"Edith, I'm a man now. I want a different life from when I was a boy, Edith. I want to be a husband, a father… please, please understand," he begged.

"What about me?"

Edith's short yellow hair, never grew. She wore her white cotton dress and knee-high boots, which magically grew with her. Of course she wasn't real. How his heart hurt at the reality. _What about Edith?_ He placed a reverent kiss on her forehead, feeling the tears endlessly running down his face.

"I'm setting you free now. Don't come back Edie."

Edith cried, shaking her head in disbelief, pleading him not to. Anthony dropped to his knees, shutting his eyes and clawing at his head not quite sure at what he had done but when he looked back up, surely enough, Edith was gone.

**Part 8**

Twenty-Eight Years Later

He and Maude spent a good seventeen peaceful years together in a small estate in the countryside but they had no children, as Maude could not conceive. She died in their home from a heart attack while she slept, leaving Anthony companionless for many years afterwards.

Anthony was fifty now, his height had shrunk a little from when he was young able man, but it was only because he had gotten into the habit of hunching. His blue eyes were still the vivid blue they were but the wrinkles around it made him look sadder. Most of his blonde hair had turned mid grey but Anthony's smile never changed.

He was in his library, mulling over the invitation in his hands as he remembered the last time he went to a Crawley's party, let alone any party. What did people even wear to debutante celebrations? What would he give the birthday girl? What did eighteen-year old girls even like these days? The only teenager he ever bothered with only liked flowers, and flowers in her hair, riding bikes, swimming in lakes and chasing sunsets, but she wasn't a real teenager.

After travelling for over an hour, Anthony finally stepped out of his car in his black tweed suit and made his way to a ridiculously large building that was Robert's house. His old friend seemed to do well, having lost contact with him over the years until now, discovering he lived fairly close to his parent's house. He entered the double doors, fixing his tie and carrying with him a leather bound journal wrapped in brown paper.

"Anthony!" Robert had grown in the middle, and he looked a bit puffy on the face too. His American wife Cora greeted him as well.

"This is for Sybil," he said, handing Cora the present, immediately realizing how familiar the name sounded on his tongue.

"That's very sweet of you."

"You look well old chap," Robert said to the taller man.

"So do you," he replied. "Not doing too bad at all," Anthony laughed looking up at the high and handsome ceilings. "Now that I think about it, I don't actually remember seeing you in college, unless it was a party, or a pub."

Robert laughed.

"Yes well, I started getting my act together after I left. American women are very hard impress."

Just then a white Labrador jumped on Robert, earning a squeal from Cora.

"That's a good girl," Robert said, giving the dog a rough pat. "This is Isis."

Anthony's brows creased at the name again and suddenly he felt very strange.

"Come along Anthony, I'll introduce you to the girls," Cora said taking his arm.

"How many daughter's did you say you had?" Anthony asked her.

"Three - oh Sybil! Sybil," she grabbed her daughter by the arm. She had Cora's bright blue eyes, and brunette hair and Robert's pink complexion. "This is Anthony Strallan, a friend of your father's back when they were in college together," she handed him the gift.

"This for me?"

Anthony nodded. "It's nothing, really."

"Thank you!"

"Happy birthday," he smiled.

"Do you know where the other two are?" her mother asked her.

Sybil shrugged.

"I think I saw them outside in the garden."

"Sybil's all into volunteering and humanitarian rights," Cora was telling him as they headed outside. "She wants to be a nurse, she wants to be a politician, and this and that, so long as she's making a difference in the world. As for my eldest daughter, her and her father are alike in so many ways, both head strong and into business," then she added in amusement, "and dominating the world I suppose," they were outside now and men in black suits and women in white dresses were scattered across the vast garden. How did she think she would find them in this crowd? "Then there's the middle one," Cora's voice fell. "Spends most of her time alone, writing, reading, taking photographs _of god knows what_, anywhere, everywhere. She likes being outside a lot, by the woods or by the lake," she pointed out, "She's really just her own person."

_I guess I bought the right present for the wrong Crawley Daughter. _

"Oh dear," she covered her mouth. "I almost forgot – I left my mother with my mother in law… _alone_," she made a face, "they're going to kill each other."

Before he could say anything, Cora had rushed off. By now, Anthony was starting to feel really suspicious and he could feel his heart beating louder the longer he scanned the faces in the crowd_. It's just a coincidence,_ he told himself. _Don't be ridiculous._

A woman bumped into him then. She was tall, thin and very pale.

"Watch it," she said impatiently. She was quite stunning, with dark hair and dark eyes and a very symmetrical face.

"Sorry about that," a man who was following her said to Anthony. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and smiled at him embarrassedly before calling out to the woman, "Mary, hold on!"

"Mary?" Anthony said under his breath, clearly confused. He knew he was being silly but he started making his way through the people, searching for a familiar face and the more he found nothing, the more frantic his search became.

Suddenly, he saw a white figure in the woods, but it disappeared when he tried to get a better look.

Anthony strode towards it, following off where he had seen it.

He was scared to call out her name. It had been so long since he had said it but before he could open his mouth, his eyes caught a butterfly flittering towards him. It landed and stilled on his arm. The wings were a vibrant blue, outlined with black with white spots.

"Don't move," a voice said nearby. Anthony instantly recognized that voice and his heart dropped down to his stomach.

His breath hitched. Standing before him, was a young girl in her late teens or early twenties, with short blond hair that ended on her chin, and her eyes, they hadn't looked up at him yet as they were too busy studying the insect on his arm, but he was sure it was the same girl he had… abandoned, twenty-eight years ago.

_This has to be a dream._ He stood, speechless, watching her as she carefully lifted her camera to take a photo of the insect. After the shutter went of it instantly flew away.

The girl lowered her camera, letting it hang around her neck. Anthony gazed in her eyes, but there was nothing there, she simply stared back at him. He moved closer and was stunned when she took a wary step back.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, holding out a hand, motioning that he wasn't going to harm her.

Anthony willed his voice not to shake, even though his hands were.

"It's me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Edith, it's me," he repeated.

She shook her head slowly.

"I don't think we've ever met before."

"Yes, yes we have!" he insisted. "It's Anthony! Don't you - don't you remember? Anthony Strallan!"

Edith shook her head, completely bewildered.

"Well do you remember Wilfred and Bertha or my sister Harriet? How about Sister Hughes? Clarkson? Carson? O'Brien? I was sent to detention because of you!"

Edith was speechless.

"Maude, you must remember Maude! She's… she passed away."

"I'm sorry sir, I really don't know what you're talking about. Are you okay?"

"And you're still..." Edith was wearing a white dress, though not the same white dress he knew for it was longer and went down well past her knees, and the boots weren't the same as they stopped at the ankles. "How old are you?"

"Twenty."

Anthony nodded in understanding.

"Just how I left you."

"What?"

"I will protect you, forever, remember Edith? _Remember?"_ Anthony said desperately. Edith took another step back. "No-no, I'm sorry, don't be scared- oh gods, you think I'm a madman."

"I really have to go."

"No- please!"

"Bye!" she said and quickly ran off. Anthony watched Edith shrinking in the distance saw how she was stopped by one of the visitors who interacted with her. His jaw dropped open and he had to lean against the tree to keep his balance. He found he could scarcely breath.

_They could see her. They could see Edith! She was real._

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

AN: This is probably just going to be two chapters. Hope you enjoyed the wacky ride!


End file.
